35. Deeper In
First, I had to stop Lee Se-rin from cutting me down.
"Check your body. It really works, right?"
At that, Lee Se-rin steadied her breathing and obediently inspected herself. Was that enough?
"That's all you have to say for yourself?"
Apparently not.
"Why? I didn't lie. It's my ability."
"What do you think you're doing in front of Yu-na?"
Huh? That's what bothered her?
"So you're saying it's fine if we're alone?"
"Huh?! That's not what I meant!"
I answered Lee Se-rin's face, now flushed even redder, with a grin.
"Got it. Next time I'll do it where no one can see."
"Wh-who said there'd be a next time!"
Leaving Lee Se-rin, whose mood had softened considerably, I glanced sideways at the other students.
Park Min-a was staring at us with a face gone bright red, then turned her head away when she noticed my gaze.
Kim Ha-eun was covering her flushed face with both hands, but she was watching us through the gaps between her fingers.
"I told you I wouldn't forgive you if you made Yu-na cry, didn't I?!"
"Yu-na's fine, though?"
Yu-na was walking toward us with a flushed expression.
Lee Se-rin turned around, following my gaze, and started making excuses to Yu-na.
"S-sorry! Yu-na! This was Seo Do-hyeon suddenly—"
"No, it's fine, Se-rin. More importantly, Do-hyeon, I think I need a rest too."
Yu-na asked, fidgeting with her fingers, but she shouldn't need to recover, should she?
"Didn't you only use one spell today?"
"Yeah, I activated Mage Armor this morning too."
So she had used two 1st-circle spells.
The Wizard feature Arcane Recovery can restore spell uses equal to half her level.
At level 4, Yu-na could recover up to 2 circles' worth—that is, two 1st-circle spells.
"Are you sure you don't want to recover a 2nd-circle spell?"
"After hunting today, I think I'll be using a lot of 1st-circle spells."
Well then, I'd do as Yu-na wished.
"Do you want to do it where no one can see, too?"
"No, here is fine."
As she said that, Yu-na glanced at Tia.
I'd thought Yu-na didn't have a jealous streak. I was wrong.
When I bent down and pressed my lips to hers, unlike with Lee Se-rin, her tongue actively pushed into my mouth.
Slurp, slide, slurp.
Our tongues tangled, and saliva passed back and forth.
After a time both short and long, our lips parted.
"Wow! I can really use Arcane Recovery now!"
Lee Se-rin, watching the delighted Yu-na, looked conflicted.
"Satisfied now?"
Lee Se-rin bit her lip and glared at me, but with her face that red, she wasn't convincing.
On the other hand, the one getting angry this time was a different student.
"How could that possibly be okay?! Are you going to do that to us too?!"
Park Min-a demanded, hugging Kim Ha-eun's shoulders.
"If you need a rest, you can just rest for an hour."
I had no intention of forcing anything.
What I did to Lee Se-rin? She'd definitely wanted it too. That's why she accepted my tongue so readily.
"Th-that's how it is?"
When I answered calmly, Park Min-a was the one flustered.
"I-I might be okay with it if it's practical."
Oh, that was a bold statement from Kim Ha-eun.
"Ha-eun! If you say that, that guy might pounce on you!"
Park Min-a pulled Kim Ha-eun into her arms and dragged her toward herself.
She really doesn't trust me enough.
***
Leaving the grumbling Park Min-a behind, our hunt continued.
I searched for targets using the Perk I'd received from Kwon Chae-a.
"Target spotted. Everyone, prepare for battle."
This time it was four ogres.
The battle unfolded similarly to before.
Long-range attacks delivered as an opening strike.
Lee Se-rin and I, standing in the front line, took the ogres' thrown weapons.
The only difference was that Park Min-a slipped into an alley behind us, then came back and aimed her bow.
"What the—that feeling just now was my Perk activating."
Ignoring the surprised Park Min-a, Lee Se-rin and I tore into the ogres with Action Surge.
"Fire Arrow!"
"Sacred Flame!"
The two spells flew in from different angles and finished them off.
While I took the last ogre's greatclub swing with my HP, Tia's arrow buried itself in the monster's right eye.
"Die!"
Park Min-a, who had sprinted over before I knew it, drove her shortsword into the ogre's neck, and the battle ended.
"What the—it felt like every attack I made was a critical hit?"
Should I confirm it for the puzzled Park Min-a?
"How about checking your status window?"
"My status window? Huh?"
Park Min-a stared into the air, her eyes widening.
"What the—my Perk changed."
Let me take a look too.
［Blessing+］Preemptive Strike II
▶Unstoppable Momentum
The first attack you land in combat, and any attack you land after closing within 9 meters of an enemy, becomes a critical hit.
The ability formerly called First-Move Victory had changed to Unstoppable Momentum, and now attacks made after closing on an enemy also became critical hits.
For a Rogue with Cunning Action, which can amplify movement speed using the Secondary Mana Circuit, this meant every attack could now be delivered as a critical hit.
"That's great."
Everyone already knew it was thanks to me.
No need to brag about it further.
Park Min-a was shuffling toward me anyway.
"Th-thanks. It's thanks to you."
After saying that, Park Min-a immediately backed away.
Just how wary of me is she?
Still, her gratitude seemed genuine, because her attitude had noticeably softened.
Once the situation settled and we were offering the monsters as sacrifices, Kim Ha-eun came over and asked,
"Hey, Do-hyeon?"
We weren't particularly close, so was she calling me by name because of Yu-na?
"Yeah. What's up?"
"So, you two are receiving Merit Points instead of EXP, right?"
Tia and I had adjusted things so that we only needed a little more EXP to reach level 5.
So we were only receiving Merit Points, not EXP. How had she noticed?
"I can faintly sense something like a divine aura."
Was it because she was a Cleric, a priestly class? She seemed to detect something I couldn't feel well.
"Yeah. We only need a little more EXP to hit level 5."
"Then why don't you two go down to the middle layer once you reach level 5?"
In a closed-type labyrinth, enemy scale increases with party strength, and except for the final floor, level 4 was said to be the upper limit.
On top of that, if a level 5 party hunted normally in the upper layer, a disaster would occur, but descending the labyrinth immediately was an exception.
So ordinary adventurers were said to safely accumulate EXP at level 4, then descend to the middle layer as soon as they earned enough EXP to hit level 5.
"There are two reasons."
The first was that the terrain from the 3rd floor onward was unsuitable for the two of us to hunt continuously.
So we needed a party.
The second reason was—
"We can still grow stronger."
Tia had told me. If we were aiming for the deeper labyrinth, we should focus not on fast leveling but on becoming stronger at the same level.
Tia and I were equipped with Magic Items, but we still had room to grow stronger.
In Tia's case, she could attune up to three items but only had one.
"So, right now, while the gap is still small, I want us all to grow stronger together and go down deeper."
"Do we really need to go that deep? It seems like the 3rd-circle spell Fly alone would be enough to survive the bus."
Kim Ha-eun was talking about a spell that granted free flight, but—
"That spell only affects one person. To save more targets, you'd have to cast it at a higher level."
To save all four members of a standard party, it would need to be cast as a 6th-circle spell.
That alone already meant we'd have to descend to the lower layer.
"I have more than enough power to go deeper, and with that power I can save everyone."
For example, among 7th-circle spells, there was said to be one called Plane Shift.
That spell could move up to eight people to another world.
The important point here was that you could designate a specific destination in the other world.
You could designate a concrete location like the middle of Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul and move there.
"That's amazing, Do-hyeon. I can see why Yu-na likes you."
"It's just a plan I made because I'm confident I can do it."
Being looked at with those sparkling eyes was a little overwhelming.
I didn't tell Kim Ha-eun, but there was another reason I'd made this plan.
Eira's conjecture was that if we returned while still able to cast Plane Shift, it would be possible to come back to this Tartarus.
If I could achieve the goal of returning without giving up the bonds I'd formed here, there was no reason not to try.
That day, we finished a total of six battles and returned.
***
Park Min-a was fiddling with her shortsword, beaming.
"Isn't this grip part really cute?"
"You've said that at least five times."
Minotaur weapons counted for 7 Merit Points and ogre weapons for 5, so the Merit Points we'd earned today totaled 111.
We'd killed 3 minotaurs and 18 ogres. Merit Points beyond comparison to the days when the two of us hunted orcs.
With those Merit Points, we'd bought one more Magic Item, and thanks to Kim Ha-eun yielding, Park Min-a had gotten a +1 shortsword.
So now, while we waited for Kwon Chae-a's party, she was showing it off at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, there was someone watching us: Song Ji-yu, who was closely examining Lee Se-rin's party's changed equipment.
Lee Se-rin's party hadn't owned a single Magic Item until now, so it was natural for her to be interested.
Hadn't they already gotten their hands on several Magic Items right after joining my party?
When I glanced at Jo Su-min, who was hiding behind Song Ji-yu, I saw her trembling.
She seemed to be under considerable pressure.
As if sensing my gaze, Song Ji-yu walked over to me.
"Since you're one party now, is Lee Se-rin moving to your inn too?"
Song Ji-yu asked me that, but—
"That's up to Lee Se-rin's party, isn't it?"
I made the final decisions, but our party still felt strongly like two parties merged together.
"What do you want to do, Lee Se-rin? Do you want to keep staying there?"
"I'm going to suggest it to the teacher. About moving our lodging."
Park Min-a added to Lee Se-rin's answer,
"It's not like we're doing it because we joined your party, okay? Our overall income went up, so we just thought we could afford to change inns."
So everyone was coming to the inn where I stayed.
While we were having that conversation,
"Oh? I see."
Song Ji-yu said, and withdrew.
This probably made it easier for Song Ji-yu to move Jo Su-min. She might make a move soon.
***
A little while later, Kwon Chae-a's party returned.
Kwon Chae-a considered Lee Se-rin's proposal and accepted it, and when the topic of which inn to switch to came up, I recommended the one where I was staying.
"Most of all, it has a bath. Tia, were you satisfied with the bath?"
"Of course. The water was clean and the space was wide enough for several people."
At that, the students' eyes lit up and they started asking Tia all sorts of questions.
"Ah, that inn is nice but it's said to smell a bit."
"That inn's water isn't hot enough and goes cold after a little while, I heard."
"Ah, that inn's breakfast is supposed to be terrible."
It seemed Tia had reasons for choosing our current inn.
After the discussion ended, the inn to move to was unanimously decided: the one where Tia and I were staying.
The contract with the old inn could be terminated at any time, so we just had to pass along the word.
Except for Kwon Chae-a, who went to deliver that message, everyone moved to the inn where Tia and I had been staying.
While the other students secured rooms at the inn, Tia and I unpacked.
Then, a little while later, as Tia was preparing for a bath, there was a knock at the door.
Knock, knock.
When I opened the door, Jo Su-min was standing there looking at me with an uneasy expression.
"Hey, Seo Do-hyeon? I came because I have something to say."
Anticipating what she might say and how things would unfold, I let Jo Su-min into the room.
Tia let out a sigh and headed for the bath, saying,
"Prepare yourself for tonight, Do-hyeon."
And so, only Jo Su-min and I remained in the room.
